Parents say

Kids say

Missed the mark

First, the movie was LONG. without previews it's over 2 hours long. for kids in my opinion, it's too long. the movie was different than the orginal in these ways. It is scary and dark in several scenes. I understand it was rated PG, but, unlike the original, it has several truly scary scenes. it also touched on many heavy subjects. death, loss of security, nightmares, lying and deceit. also, there were many scenes where the father was very angry with his children. the orginal Mary Poppins did have a few scenes like this, but, it was more of a snip than a rant. the overall movie aesthetically was dark. as in the lighting, coloring, gray skies, etc. then there were moments of polar opposite brightness, color, cheery songs. however, it was maybe 30% happy and 70% dark or low/sad. there were points where the movie seemed to drag and the storyline would go over a 7 or 8 year olds head. mostly in regards to the songs. the songs were used to guide the characters to dealing with the perils in the storyline and were not straightforward. that's fine for an older viewer but for those that are younger I feel it left the scary parts more prominent. I went with 4 total adults and 6 children. the acting was great. the happy parts were cute, but too few. overall I was disappointed because I thought the movie would be fun and uplifting. we left with many of the children frightened and my daughter fearing she would have nightmares. my daughter is not easily frightened. I feel like Mary Poppins Returns was geared towards those that watched Mary Poppins as a child and are now adults and missed the mark for those that may be children watching for the first time.

This title contains:

Violence & scariness

This review...

A different review...

I am writing this review because I couldn't find other reviews to answer this question before we went to see the movie. My kids are extremely sensitive, and I wanted to know if this movie had any sad elements. The answer is yes. There are two moments when the dad is crying about losing his wife. They are brief, but one of my children was crying, and I will admit I shed a tear as well. I was worried about the end, when Mary Poppins leaves, but it wasn't too dramatic or drawn out and my kids were fine.
As one reviewer noted, there is a frightening/tense carriage scene during an animated part. Average children will find it fine, but if your child is sensitive to scary situations, you may want to have them leave the theatre for that scene.
Overall, for the average child I would say there is nothing objectionable in this movie. However it is very long (over 2 hours); it is long even for an adult, so I would not recommend it for young children.
I won't give a full review of this movie as there are many other ones to read, but I will say I love Mary Poppins and I love Emily Blunt and I was skeptical about this movie, but Emily Blunt was great! The movie was okay. My children and I both enjoyed it.

This review...

Wonderful family movie, and great for kids and adults alike!

My wife and I took three of our grandchildren to this movie, ages 3,6, and 8. None of these kids likes scary movies, nor do they play video games or any of the other scary things out there these day. I consider them all generally sensitive kids. All of them loved this movie! The two parts others have mentioned they had no problem with nor did they upset them in the least. There were a couple of scenes where they discussed their mother who had died the year before. As a widower and a single dad because of my late wife dying, I wondered how they would handle those scenes. Extremely well done. This concept was not dwelled on; this was not a major theme of the movie just one of a few background setters. But it was not ignored either, just handled very sensibly. But again, not a lot of time on this; almost all the time was spent on the positive and fun. The other scene involving a carriage ride chase (cartoon) was relatively short and none of the three thought it was that intense. If there was any scene that might scare a young child that could be it, but our three year old granddaughter was not scared in the least. The other 98% of the movie was just good old Mary Poppins type fun. Lots of positive messaging throughout on family, caring, focusing on the positive rather than feeling sorry for yourself , helping others, great catching songs, and just good old foot-stomping fun! Honestly think this is one of the best movies I have seen in years, and all three grandkids have talked and laughed about it all day. You really have to stretch to find anything offensive about any language or scenes, and I am one of the most prudish people you will find (my Army buddies always made fun of me for never, ever cussing, swearing, etc.). In one song there was one line that mentioned a lady covered by leaves in a couple spots...that was as close as you can find to anything sexual or risqué in the entire movie...and even that would be quite a stretch. Also, it was nice to see a movie not filled with the latest political or social messaging; they avoided all that in this one. Bottom line: this is a great family movie, and movies like this are not the easiest to find these days, highly recommend it to you, and your kids or grandkids!

This title contains:

Positive Messages

Positive role models

This review...

Practically perfect in every way!

Amazing! I am a die hard Mary Poppins fan- I was skeptics at first; how could anyone perform Mary Poppins anywhere as perfect as dame Julie Andrews did? Emily blunt certainly has! Everything she did reminded me of Julie Andrews take on the first Mary Poppins, but she also added an extra kick to the character as well. In short, she made it her own.
The special effects were awesome; I particularly enjoyed keeping with the older special effects mixed in with the new.
The new soundtrack was amazing as well. I already have songs stuck in my head-particularly the song Royal Doutlton Music hall and A Cover is not The Book! I have to be honest, I was afraid I wouldn’t like the music -nothing tops a spoonful of sugar or superkalafragulisticexpealagocious- but like I said, the new music is equally as enjoyable-if not more!
This movie will definitely be in my treasured movie collection-I already can’t wait for it to come out on DVD!

This review...

Very disappointing. The 70% 'dark' film completely fails at even coming close to recreating themagicof the orginal Mary Poppins. Completely fails. Chaotic and scattered incoherent mess. Not nearly as inspired or as good as the original. Blunt and others fail to create the 'magic's of the original.

Don't buy the hype with Disney's spin machine.
The 70% 'dark' film fails at coming close to recreating themagicof the orginal Mary Poppins. Completely fails. It is a poor rehash job, a chaotic and scattered incoherent mess. Not nearly as inspired or as good as the original. Blunt and others fail to create the 'magic's of the original. Its "ok" at best but I think will leave fans of the original story disappointed. I agree with others re this being too "dark". Its not nearly as inspired or as good as the original "Mary Poppins." Blunt and others fail to create the 'magic's of the original.

This review...

Entertaining but predictable

I took my 8 and 12 year grandchildren and the older boy had not seen the original. I saw the original at its opening when I was 10. The 8 year old did not see the original but we read the book.
So, we came from different perspectives. They both said afterwards that they liked the movie.
My take? The beginning was almost boring. Emily Blunt had the look and mannerisms of the book character. I had never seen Lin-Manuel Miranda before (Jack) and I seriously thought he was the main character instead of Mary Poppins. I’m not complaining because he is charismatic and very good. I was just surprised that his character was on the screen more often or seemed to be then Mary. The music was not catchy but the lyrics were excellent. I didn’t think those cartoon characters- the ones that stole the giraffe- were necessary to the plot at all and that segment should be edited out. I thought the actor who played Michael was miscast. He just lacked a lot to make the audience care. The children were believable especially Georgie. The chemistry between Jack and Jane was obvious but I couldn’t help thinking how could he financially support an eventual marriage on a lamplighters salary.
Once the first 30 minutes were over the rest of the movie flowed better. I figured out where the bank shares were right from the beginning. I knew Dick vanDyke was in the movie but the highlight for me was the balloon lady(won’t spoil that). She was the “cherry on top” for the best part of the movie.
I liked the tribute touches to the original movie. I believe people and kids who had not seen the original would enjoy this one more then those of us who had seen the original. I just felt overall that this one lacked the overall warmth and charm of the characters, story and music of Mary Poppins the movie. Gallant attempt though.

This review...

A+ Charming! I loved it! And fell in love with Emily Blunt as Mary Poppins!

I just saw it today! And I loved it!!!
My favorite part was when Mary Poppins and Jack were singing about, “don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” To see the books come alive and then dancing through them. So cool!! Also, I loved when Dick Van Dyke danced on the bank desk. Plus, when Mary Poppins, Jack, and the 3 children jumped into the broken China bowl and fixed the carriage to take a ride. And of course, when Mary Poppins draws them a bath and you see a real dolphin pop out.
The music was wonderful!! I loved Emily Blunt’s delivery and she did everything “Mary Poppins perfect’’! Jack’s singing was wonderful as well and then when the lamp-lighters danced and sang, it was just awesome. I loved how they added choreography with the bike tricks. Super cool.
Everything was beautiful but what was best of all — is how Disney still brought in new magic BUT! held onto the old magic all at the same time. That is so hard to do! They could have done crazy things but they just held onto the original Mary Poppins magic and tricks all while putting a new spin on them.
I just loved it!!! Excellent job Emily Blunt! Excellent job Disney!
You all did not disappoint!

This review...

Terribly made copy job of the original film. Emily Blunt is horrible as Mary Poppins.

Emily Blunt was a killer cop in Sicario. What are they thinking? She's nothing like Julie Andrews here and she is downright scary at times! The film is all over the place in terms of the plot and the songs. Don't waste your money on this film.

This title contains:

Language

This review...

A little disappointed

While it has all the great Disney characteristics, the plot is really thin. I’m not sure what I was expecting but it left me a little unfulfilled. The music was fun but not as catchy as the original. Maybe I was trying to much to re-create my original experience as a kid. It’s definitely worth seeing.

This review...

Good, Just Not Necessary

Sure, I'm old school. The original ranks in my top five Important American Films. This "sequel": not so much. It's gorgeous, the songs are fine. The problem is the ."..Returns" qualifier. IF this movie had responded to current socio-economic concerns: the housing market, corporate greed, etc... It might have been relevant.
Instead, filmmakers settled into the "obligatory" sequel stance: "Oh, we GOTTA have a "Chim-Chim-Cheree" showstopper, etc. As a result, we are burdened with Meryl Streep's totally irrelevant, but perfunctory take on "I Love to Laugh." And the lackluster "Stay Awake" version called... Well, I forgot already.
The great tragic storytelling blunder here is the ticking clock: "You Must Pay the Rent!" deadline which leaves the audience waiting for the happy ending. IF Poppins could turn back time, why didn't she just do it instead of laboring through Lin Manuel Miranda's excruciating scaling of Big Ben? Makes no sense...
Whereas the original had heart, and a flawless story line that gradually focused on the Real Issue: Mr. Banks, this revisiting feels belabored. It's good. Just... Unnecessary.

Beautiful

This review...

Absolutely delightful

I took my five year old (almost six) to see this and she was absolutely enthralled from beginning to end. Emily Blunt is incredible as Mary Poppins with facial expressions and comedic timing that were on on point. Lin-Manuel Miranda sparkles on screen with a terrible in his eye and contagious smile. The scenes with magic delighted my daughter. The adults loved the call backs to the original including some great cameos. We were prewarned that there was a scary scene with wolves, so we timed a bathroom break with that. Nothing else was overly scary. The songs were reminiscent of the original. When it was over, my daughter wanted to watch it all over again!

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Positive Messages

Positive role models

This review...

The Magic Lives On

I took my twin 4yo sons to see this in the theater today, and they loved it! (I should preface this by saying that my boys are highly sensitive to anything scary, including most PG rated Disney films. They did get a bit frightened by a brief chase scene, but they quickly recovered and were happily glued to the screen for the remainder.) As an adult, I revisited fond memories, sang out loud and shed a tear...or two.
Disney did a simply amazing job of capturing the magic of the original Mary Poppins while offering a new and captivating storyline as well as a fresh, mind-blowing score. The bath tub and ceramic bowl (animated) scenes are kids’ fantasies brought to life, pairing stunning visuals, brilliant songs and amazing creativity. There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll be seeing this story on Broadway in the very near future!
Now on to the cast. Lynn Manuel Miranda was impressive as always, but Emily Blunt’s singing and practically perfect MP demeanor really blew me away. Who knew!? Colin Firth was a blasé villain, but it was frankly refreshing not to see the “bad guy” go off the rails in another children’s film. And of course it was an incredible treat to see Meryl Streep, Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury contributing their talents (song, dance!). Bravo.
If you’re a fan of Mary Poppins, I insist that you grab you kids and run to the theaters! You’ll be so happy you did.

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This review...

Magical and Delightful

So many charming parallels to the original but done beautifully and uniquely. Loved Jack and Mary Poppins, great to see Dick Van Dyke; the hint of romance between Jane and Jack was, as my daughter pointed out to me, a bit forced, but I was okay with it until she pointed it out. Some scary scenes within the animation and it was a long and tackled some tough situations but did it very well although for the very young child it may have been too much. The music was wonderful and very reminiscent of the original but again unique in it's own way . . .

This review...

Great family imagination fun

Took my two boys (9 and almost 13) so was a bit anxious, but the movie was great fun and some good laughs. The 9 yo loved it and the 12 yo said it was 'good', his standard description for anything that is not rubbish. Great for us adults as well.

This title contains:

Positive Messages

Positive role models

This review...

Severe Disappointment

Too much singing and the songs were not memorable, Emily Blunt was the only thing good about the movie. Also way too cartoony and the story line lacked imagination. I also found it to be chaotic and unorganized..Nothing like the original which was inspiring.

This review...

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